The hotly-contested No. 8 seed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs is up for grabs this weekend. The reinvigorated Wisconsin Badgers will attempt to surmount the Michigan Tech Huskies in a series that will decide the post-season fate of UW hockey.
The Badgers (5-15-4 WCHA, 11-19-4 overall) enter this weekend only one point behind Michigan Tech in conference rankings. This weekend may be the deciding factor as to who finishes with the No. 8 seed in time for the playoffs, as each team finishes their conference slate against top-ranked teams.
\Us and Tech have been neck and neck all year,"" Assistant Coach Troy Ward said. ""I think they probably feel like we feel--that we're a better team than our record indicates. We feel we're a better hockey team than what they represent.""
Wisconsin and Michigan Tech (6-15-3, 9-19-4) have much in common. Neither team features a dominant offense or defense, but each has individual stars capable of threatening an opponent on any night.
A key matchup for this week will be between the Huskies' star forward junior Brett Engelhardt and Wisconsin's best scoring threat, junior wing Rene Bourque. Each player has 16 goals this season and demands defensive attention.
Michigan Tech's other scoring threat comes in the form of sophomore wing Colin Murphy, who has tallied 14 goals and a team-leading 32 points. The Huskies have also received production from their rookie class, as freshman forward Chris Conner leads the team with 19 assists. Aside from these scorers, however, Michigan Tech's offense lacks consistent production.
Wisconsin has problems of its own on the offensive side, though. The status of highly-regarded forward senior Brad Winchester has been determined, and he will not play this week. Without their captain in the lineup, freshman forward Ryan MacMurchy and senior wing Erik Jensen will be forced to aid Bourque in making up for his absence. MacMurchy has had a very productive rookie season, while Jensen dominated in last weekend's series with St. Cloud State after sitting out three games in a row.
""The one thing [UW Head Coach Mike Eaves] has told the team all year is 'control what you can control',"" Ward said. ""I thought last week they handled themselves very well and this week we're even better.""
Michigan Tech's defense, much to the relief of a disjointed Badger offense, is ranked at the bottom of the WCHA. The lone bright spot of the Husky defense is sophomore Clay Wilson, who recently became his team's highest scoring defenseman in five years.
The last line of defense for Michigan Tech is sophomore goalie Cam Ellsworth, among the worst in the league. In his last five games, Ellsworth has surrendered and eye-catching 27 goals.
""If they don't have great goaltending then we have to get some shots and exploit that,"" freshman forward Nick Licari said. ""If we're confident, not overconfident, we'll be OK.""
This is one area where the teams have nothing in common. UW sophomore netminder Bernd Bruckler continues to produce week after week and has shown no signs of slowing down. With a possible all-WCHA goalie at their backs, the Badger defense, led by seniors Brian Fahey and Mark Jackson, is all the more confident.
""[Michigan Tech has] played well as of late and had some surprises against North Dakota and other teams,"" Bruckler said. ""We have to go in there with the mentality we had last weekend and get the job done.""
